Collapsible chair



Oct. 19, 1948. l.. w. MORRIS COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR Filed ooi. 4, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 s I I RR G 0R Y T0 l F mw 5 WR E T 6 7 y a C 5 W8 Y E on l I .L

MTToRm-:YZZ

Oct. 19, 1948. L, MQRRls l I 2,451,687.v coLLAPsIBLE CHAIR Filed Oct. 4, 1944 5 INVENTOR. IO /I LEYCESTER W.MORR|S VBY ATTORNEOJ Patented ct. 19, i948 f UNITED `Sr'lelflasv l l l i Y v a451,6s 7

. apparemment-Aral Leycester Wr Morris, Berkieyilioh.- n nppngatigiil-joetpbgr 4, 1944, serialNo. 557,067

momias.. w1. letales.)

Fig.,1 is a perspectiveview of the improved' chair as adjusted for use.

Fig. 2 is a sideelevational View of the chair, showing two limitingpositions of the chair back. Fig; 3 is^a-front view vof the chair as fully collapsed.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of; a metalreinforcement, onev of which is applicable toY each side frame of the chair.

Eig.v 5: is a-fragmentary-vertical sectional view of Athe chair onthe line 5-5 of Fig. 2, showing a` partially collapsedv position of one 'of the side frames.

Fig. 6 .is a fragmentary horizontal section taken. on theline Bnfof Fig. 2.

llllihese views, the reference character I; desighates., the; reetan-g1ilarv seat of a. collapsblechain- 2 the back thereof, 3 the uprights of two similar.A

arflliil Sidejfllames., andtthe horizontal arm rest of each side frame. Each arm rest rigidly interconnects the unrghtsifof; the oor-responding Side frame, and a. .front and a rear lea are formed by said uprights. at 5 to the seat, being thus adapted to swing down to substantialiparallelism,with the seat as Fig. 2 illustrates. The pivotal axis Q f the hinges 5 is disposed some distance above the. seat f or rea- Spnswhiehwill presently appear... The lower portionof the seat back has a width somewhat exceeding that. of' the upper porton, adapting the lateral margins 6 of said lower portion to bear against the. rear uprights to maintain the use position of' said back. A pair of small blocks 1 aresosecured to the front facesof the margins 6 aste occupy positions beneath and in close proximity'to the armrests 4 when the chair is adjusted-:for use, said blocks7 engaging the seat and maintaining parallelism of the back and seat, when the back is. swung down. .The side frames are formed preferably of lwood or some other light material and are interiorly engaged; Vand strongly; reinforced by arched metal strips 8. ".Ifhese` respectively underlie the arm rests and entend. downwardly ony the uprishts, preferably l almost to .their lower ends'- 'Ifojseoure Said rein- The back is hinged as indicatedv feroernents rigidly to. the Side frappes opposed: pairs of lugs a iprrneds at` Sntahleinteryal... n. therein-ornamental' are adapt .di tel Straddle the side Vfrarnes, and rivetal are passed through the. frames andfhlae-v The upriahts havearooves ILe Glndmn' thlf'es.CQYeFedLbX Uh? feiilfo ina Strips .substantially from the arrri-J rest to. points adjacent to theeeatandfslots lamentan sive with and opening from such groovesare. formed; inY thev miniere-ips. Strips... Said; arooyes and Slote-v havo a. Somewhat greater downward: extent in one-olf; thesaii framesl than theother; ior.- a reason Whieh will. presently appear A; pair of angular brackets I3 are? fastened. bolts. I3a, to front anqllrear corners ofthe seat at one side thereof, projecting pred eterminedlyj apoye.tliefeeatv and a pair of brackets. I4 halted..Y to theI other two. corners of; the kseat project,- upwardly a Vlesser distance; Pins. I5 proieot',L rigidly. forward fromv theiuppen ends ofthe two front brackets: and.) rearward from. the tw@ rear; brackets I3 and; I4, through the. slots I2. and. intothe grooves. Il of theupriahts,v beingformed with enlarged heads- 'd ih Said. e-rooves. In use of the. chair; saidpins seat upon. the lower ends of theA slots; IZ, thus. transmitting the loadv of. theeeat andy its occupant to the uprights, and the Slptsand grooves ofthe side frame associated: withI the brakets. Mare somewhat longer than. those.. of the. other. upright because. ofthe differ-Q ential nature of the brackets I3 and I4.

A pair of similar elongated sheet metal links li are. piyoted at endetherieof tothe front uprightssome distance downward from thevseatf, Said links extending. towardeaoh other atan upf.. wardinoiination, inl the Vuse position of thelohai'n) and heine. iurther pli/ated, at their. other endete. the. front. edge. portion of the seat- .In thel Same manner the rear uprights aro-linked. as indicated. at, im to the rear edeeportioh of the Seat.

11h@ described arrangement` is such that theI lin-lgs I1 and I'Ia act. as braces for the uprightsll inhuselpositionlof: the chair, resisting pivoting of. the side frames on.. the pins` I5 and consequent wobbling or collapsev of the chair. The .weight of .Seat andy its oeollpant acting throughr thev pins lionY the pariente oontributesto rigidity of.. the structure, inv resisting any. swinging. of the: links, 'ljhe structure derives further and very considerable rigidity from the engagement of the.k

seat. back .betweenvthe side frames, but a rigid; structureremains. even when the back is swung down upon the seat. To collapsethe side frames theohair ispiehed up andsaid frames are downwardly pivotodahout theinner; ends of tllefiinlos,

3 concurrently sliding and pivoting on the pins I5, until the frames are in substantial parallelism with the seat and collapsed back, as appears in Fig. 3. The somewhat higher level of the pins l5 on the brackets i3 as compared to the pins on the brackets I4 is such as to adapt the collapsed side frames to lie, one closely above the other in substantial parallelism witheach other as well as withthe seatand back. As is clear from Fig. 3, the lowermost collapsed frame straddles the seat and the upper straddles the back, so that total thickness of the collapsed structure is no greater than the joint thickness of the two side frames. This achieves a compactness that is highly desirable for the purpose of carrying the collapsed chair or storing it in any container. The avoidance of any cross connection between the uprights of either side frame, except the arm rest, is of course a vital'feature in attaining the desired compactness, since any such connection would prohibit the described straddling relation of theframes to the seat and back.

The space which occurs between the back and seat of the collapsed chair may serve to accommodate straps associated with the chair for any purpose. Thus in Fig. 1, straps i8 are shown secured to each of the rearcorners of the chair seat for the purpose of securing an infant in the chair.

A chair of the described type has many possible uses. It may be set up in an adult chair to enable al child to'use a table, eliminating need oi a high chair, and can be conveniently carried for similar use in a restaurant or when the parents are visiting. In vehicles it may be set up on the seats to elevate a small child so that he may look out of the windows. It may be conveniently taken on any outing, to assure a suitable-seat for a small child.

` The extreme simplicity of the construction permits its production at low costyet it has ample strength for its purpose. It will be noted that the chair may be picked up by its back without a resulting downward collapse of the side frames,

the margins 5 of the back preventing such col-` lapse by their engagement beneath the arm rests.

The plate I9 secured to the back and projecting beyond its hinged edge serves as a stop, when the chair is collapsed, to prevent the side frames being swung to inverted rather than upright positions.

What I claim is:

1. Al collapsible chair comprising a seat, a pair of side frames each including a pair of front and rear leg-forming uprights and an arm rest interconnecting the paired uprights, means providing slidable yand pivotal connections between the seat and uprights, means on the uprights for seating said connections and thereby imposing the weight of the seat and its occupant on the uprights, and a paix` of links elongated transversely of the chair and forming swinging connections between the side frames land seat, and further forming braces in the'use position of the uprights to maintain s uch position in conjunction with said slidable and pivotal connections and coacting with such connections to guide the side frames to collapsed positions of substantial parallelism with the seat.

2. A collapsible chair as set forth in claim 1, the uprights of veach side frame being spaced suiiciently to aiford a straddling o f the seat by at least one of the side frames in the fully collapsed position of the chair.v

3. A Icollapsible chairv as set forth in claim 1, each side frame forming an opening and the 4 seat at least partially occupying one such opening in the fully collapsed position of the chair.

4. In a collapsible chair as set forth in claim 1, said pair of links being adjacent to the front edge of the seat and being connected to the front u prights, a second pair of links adjoining the rear edge of the seat and connected to the rear uprights.

5. In a collapsible chair as set forth in claim 1", a back hinged to said seat to Iassume either an upright position of use between the uprights or a collapsed position of substantial parallelism with the seat, the side frames forming openings, and the seat and back lying substantially within such openings in the fully collapsed position of the chair.

6. A collapsible chair as set forth in claim 1, the uprights having elongated guideways accommodating said slidable and pivotal connections, the lower ends of said guideways forming seats engagable by such connections in the use position of the chair.

7. A collapsible chair as set forth in Iclaim 1, said slidable and pivotal connections comprising forwardly projecting pins engaging the front pair of uprights and rearwardly projecting pins, engaging the rear pair of uprights.

8. In a collapsible chair as set forth in claim 1, metallic reinforcements secured to the uprights and slotted longitudinally of the uprights to form slide guides for said sliding and pivotal connections.

9. In a collapsible chair as set forth in claim 1, an arched reinforcement secured within each side frame to the uprights and arm rest of such frame and slotted longitudinally of the uprights to form slide guides for said sliding and tions.

10.- A collapsible chair as set forth in claim 1, said slidable and pivotal connections comprising forwardly projecting pins and rearwardly projecting pins, and the uprights having elongated guideways accommodating said pins, the pins J associated with one of the side frames being sufiiciently raised above those engaging the other to adapt said frames to collapse one above the other.

I ,EYCESTER W. MORRIS.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 168,053 Sayles Sept. 21, 1875 441,466 Bowen Nov. 25, 1890 563,816 Switz July 14, 1896 592,695 Coonrod Oct. 26, 1897 1,001,344 Boyer Aug. 22, 1911 1,163,628 Gibson Dec. 7, 1915 1,342,715 Howe June 8, 1920 1,391,791 Rathjen Sept. 27, 1921 1,428,627 Grabfelder Sept. 12, 1922 1,916,772 Pratt July 4, 1933 1,944,335 Van Wyck Jan. 23, 1934l FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 22,134 Great Britain Oct. 6, 1896 177,913 Switzerland June 30, 1935 291,885 Italy Dec. 29, 1931 434,813 Great Britain Sept. 6, 1935 762,820 France Jan. 29, 1934l pivotal connec- 

